Librarian Appreciation Post and Giveaway

I'm not sure if there is a National Librarian Appreciation day or something, but I decided to write a little post about my awesome YA librarian.

I'd love to be a YA librarian because I'd love to be involved with working with that age group, planning events, book clubs, etc. And I'm trying to get into publishing in that genre, so it would only make sense that I'd work with that age.

Because teenagers are at a point in their lives where they really need an adult to look at and say "I'd like to be that person when I grow up, because I sure as hell don't want to be like my parents." They need someone to talk to because they hate their parents, or they don't think it's cool to talk to their parents about tough stuff. They need to know that not all adults hate them and that they have someone to go to if they need help. They need other kids who they can hang out with and have fun with without getting into trouble. They need to start deciding what they believe, and learn to hold their own beliefs and not their parents. They need to start reading for fun instead of just reading because they have to.

I started reading for fun when I was about fifteen. I went to the library to hang out, but I didn't read a lot of books. I mostly used the WiFi. But my librarian recommended a book to me (I won't tell you what it was because now I'd love to throw that book out the window into a volcano) and I realized I could actually get away from the world through a book (which was better than anything because I could be alone while I read... and I was a very anti-social teenager.) So I started reading EVERYTHING I could get my hands on.

I read some stuff I wish I hadn't, but even those things helped me realize what I believed because I had to figure out why I was convicted and why it made me mad/uncomfortable. I read some stuff my parents would be disappointed at me reading, but I read it and figured out just how much tolerance for certain content I had, and then I had to figure out whether that was a good thing or a bad thing. There was a lot of self discovery involved in the process. Shortly after, I started book blogging, and writing about what I was reading, and I became a much more critical thinker.

My librarian also helped me out with a project about book censorship and book banning back in High School, and ever since it's become a very important topic to me, one that I fully intend to do a lot more research and projects on.

All because my librarian was just that awesome. Krissy, you are so freaking cool.

So to celebrate how awesome librarians are, please leave me a comment (or fill out the form below, either one) telling me a story about your librarian/library/library experience and your email address, and I will enter you in a giveaway to win two of these ARCs:

USA and Canada only, you must be a follower, ends November 1. Good luck!

*I don't know how many (probably 2-5), all I know is I have a bunch of ARCs I need to get rid of and they are taking up valuable space on my bookshelf. how many I send you depends on how much money I have at the time of the giveaway.